Method of knitting fabric



Nov. 13, 1962 M. H. FAUST ETAL 3,063,271

METHOD OF KNITTING FABRIC Filed Oct. 5, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS MARTIN H. FAUST FRANK STEV NSON ATTORNEY 3, 1962 M. H. FAUST ETAL METHOD OF KNITTING FABRIC 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 3. 1960 H G F EDCBAH INVENTORS MARTIN H. FAUST FRANK STEVENSON ATTORN EY United States Patent Ofifice 3,063,271 Patented Nov. 13, 1962 3,063,271 METHOD OF KNITTING FABRIC Martin H. Faust, Reading, and Frank Stevenson, West Lawn, Pa., assignors to Penn Dale Knitting Mills, Sinking Spring, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Oct. 3, 1960, Ser. No. 59,954 3 Claims. (Cl. 66-82) This invention relates to a method of making a fiatknit fabric.

One object of the invention is to produce a fabric which has an attractive appearance, which can be made in various patterns, which has improved stretching and contracting characteristics, and which, when relaxed, will have the feel and the appearance of increased bulk and warmth.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the following specification and accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. lis a photographic view showing the appearance of the fabric when it is relaxed.

FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. 1, but shows the fabric when it is stretched.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged diagrammatic view of a fabric knit according to the method of this invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged and diagrammatic view looking in the direction of line 4-4 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 1, but looking in the direction of line 5-5 on FIG. 1.

The fabric illustrated in FIG. 1 is knit on a spring beard flat knitting machine and is formed to knit, alternating areas and 14, and ladder, or non-knit areas 12.

Areas 10 may be formed of a highly stretchable, or of a non-stretchable, natural or synthetic yarn. In the preferred embodiment, areas 10 are knit of a highly stretchable synthetic yarn 11 and are knit under minimum tension, or a tension just sufficient to draw the yarn through the needles, but not sufiicient appreciably to stretch the yarn. Areas 14 are formed of an elastic yarn 15, such as rubber, and are knit under tension ufficient appreciably to stretch the yarn.

As best shown in FIG. 3, the yarn 11 used in knitting areas 10 is preferably of a larger denier than yarn 15 which is used in knitting areas 14. The difference in denier and the difference in tension combine to produce relatively large and loose stitches 16 in areas 10 and relatively small and tight stitches 18 in areas 14. Since the number of stitches 16 in each area 10 is equal to the number of stitches 18 in each area 14, areas 10 will bulge, and will be somewhat loose and gathered, or puckered, while areas 14 will be tight and will lie flat. In other words, areas 10 will be more open, looser and thicker than areas 14, as diagrammatically illustrated at 24 in FIG. 4.

It has heretofore been proposed, for one purpose or another, to omit stitches at intervals, but, as far as we are aware, this has always been done by omitting a needle at the point where it was desired to omit a stitch. Omitting a needle will produce the non-knit, or ladder, areas 12, but, in that event, the yarns 11 and 15 would be stretched relatively taut between course-wise adjacent stitches 16, 16 and 18, 18, respectively. This seriously limits the stretchability of the fabric.

According to our invention, instead of omitting a needle, we remove, or permanently close, the beard of the selected needle so as to prevent it from forming a stitch. By this arrangement, a length of yarn, 11 or 15, will be drawn about the shank of the needle, the beard of which is closed, the same as if a stitch were to be formed. But, since no stitch is formed, the length of yarn 11 drawn will be gathered or crinkled as diagrammatically shown at 24 in FIG. 3, and will be available to impart increased stretchability to the finished fabric. This is due to the fact that when the elastic yarn 15 is stretched (upon stretching of the fabric), the excess yarn 11 which is drawn about the shank of a needle whose heard is closed, will, by straightening out the kinks, provide elon gation in addition to such true stretching as the yarn is capable of. In the absence of a needle shank to draw excess yarn, the yarn connecting adjacent stitches 16, 16 will be much shorter and will limit the stretchability of the fabric to the real stretch factor built into yarn 15 by actual experience, which shows that a fabric knit with the beard of the needle closed is appreciably more stretchable than a similar fabric in which a needle is omitted altogether.

Since this invention resides primarily in removing or closing the heard of a spring beard needle, as distinguished from omitting the needle altogether, it is thought unnecessary to show, or to describe, a flat bed, spring beard needle knitting machine or its operation. It is thought sufiicient to say that in carrying out the inven tion, it is merely necessary to permanently close the beards of selected needles, which any mechanic can do with a pair of pliers, or the like.

The stretchable yarn 11 used in forming stitches 16 may be like that disclosed in Garrou Patent No. 2,706,- 389, or it may be of any other type now available on the market.

The shape and size of areas 10 and 14 may be varied by varying the number and arrangement of stitches 16 and 18 and by varying the denier of yarns 11 and 15 and the tensions under which the yarns are knit. Also, while we prefer to draw yarn 11 around the shank of a needle, the heard of which is closed, or removed, the essence of our invention structurewise resides in knitting predetermined areas of large denier and large and loose stitches, knitting other areas of tight stitches of elastic yarn and walewise alternating these areas with dropped stitches, Method-wise, our invention resides in drawing a length of yarn sufiicient to form a large loose stitch but, since no stitch is actually formed, the yarn thus drawn will be longer than the yarn which would span ladder area 12 in the absence of a needle.

The particular fabric illustrated is formed as follows:

The machine is prepared for operation by permanently closing, or by removing the beard of every sixth needle. Next, courses A, B, C, D are knit of elastic yarn 15 under relatively high tension. Next, courses E, F, G and H are knit, under minimum tension, of heavier denier, stretchable, or non-stretchable yarn, and so on. This process produces a fabric which will stretch twice as much, or more, than an identical fabric produced by omitting selected needles altogether.

As used in the specification and claims, non stretch means a yarn which has only that amount of stretch which is inherent in ordinary thread, such as rayon, or nylon, and high stretch means elastic yarn made of rubber or synthetic yarn of the type known as Helanca or of the type disclosed in Patent No. 2,706,389, aforesaid.

What we claim is:

1. The method of knitting a fabric on a flat knitting machine of a type which employs spring beard needles, which method includes the step of permanently closing the beards of selected needles at selected intervals in the bed of the machine, knitting a first group of courses under tension of a relatively low order, and knitting a second group of courses of an elastic yarn under tension of a relatively high order, the denier of the yarn used in knitting said first group of courses being heavier than the denier of the yarn used in knitting the second group of courses.

2. The method of knitting a fabric on a fiat knitting machine of a type which employs spring beard needles, which method includes the step of permanently disabling the beards of selected needles at selected intervals in the bed of the machine,

knitting a first group of courses under tension of a relatively low order, and

knitting a second group of courses of the elastic yarn under tension of a relatively high order, the denier of the yarn used in knitting said first group of courses being heavier than the denier of the yarn used in knitting the second group of courses.

3. The method of knitting a fabric on a flat knitting machine of a type which employs spring beard needles, which method includes the step of removing the beards of selected needles at selected intervals in the bed of the machine,

knitting a first group of courses under tension of a relatively low order, and

knitting a second group of courses of the elastic yarn under tension of a relatively high order, the denier of the yarn used in knitting said first group of courses being heavier than the denier of the yarn used in knitting the second group of courses.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

